[petayV8]

 

[petayV8]

Highlander 3 way list:

$240 Audio control ACM 2.300

Infinity:

$165 Kappa 303s 3" Mid
$265 Kappa 603CF 6.5" + 1" + 3 crossover

 

[TheLowlander]

Oh yeah! It's always a great time when you post. Looking forward to seeing the progress & finished product

 

[petayV8]

Oh yeah! It's always a great time when you post. Looking forward to seeing the progress & finished product

Well it might be a while, I don't want to go cheap on this. Had these grills I ordered laying around forever and finally installed them

 

[petayV8]

Just ordered CT sound 3 ways and a Kenwood amp. As much as a wanted to I couldn't pay the price for the infiniti setup. Anyway stay tuned here for progress. I'm excited

 

[petayV8]

This is what I have coming. Will add my pioneers 2 ways to rear doors (adding holes for tweaters) those will continue to be powered by hu no amp)

Kenwood KAC-5207

2-channel car amplifier — 70 watts RMS x 2

www.crutchfield.com

MESO-6-5-3WAY-COM // Meso 6.5 Inch 500 Watt 3-Way Component Speaker Set

The CT Sounds Meso 6.5" 3-way component speakers are custom engineered to bring you the highest tonal accuracy by providing a well-balanced experience of rich tones from powerful mid-bass to snappy highs.

www.ctsounds.com

 

[petayV8]

Analog equalizer installed:

Well I already started ahead of time before everything arrived, some wiring for the analog equalizer I want to install

Phonos from head unit to equalizer

Constant 12v and trigger I will pull from existing wiring from my sub amp

It will be placed here in glove box. Can't think of anywhere else that would work well

Wiring power here

Pic of unit

Next step to pre wire rest of car ready for speakers and amp. So phonos, power and speakers. I will also start cutting the wholes for tweaters and mids. Stay tuned

 

[carguy75]

Analog equalizer installed:

Well I already started ahead of time before everything arrived, some wiring for the analog equalizer I want to install

View attachment 389019


Phonos from head unit to equalizer

View attachment 389016

Constant 12v and trigger I will pull from existing wiring from my sub amp
View attachment 389018

It will be placed here in glove box. Can't think of anywhere else that would work well
View attachment 389014

Wiring power here
View attachment 389017

Pic of unit
View attachment 389015

Next step to pre wire rest of car ready for speakers and amp. So phonos, power and speakers. I will also start cutting the wholes for tweaters and mids. Stay tuned

Damn, you went old school with the analog BOSS 4-band EQ setup.

Man, I would have just purchased a modern radio with a 10 band or more digital EQ. If you listen to modern audio media from digital format; an radio with a good quality DAC will better bring out the sound in your 3-way setup. However, if you are using the CD player with the original content(no MP3 files); then that old BOSS EQ may be the best option since CD quality is pretty high compared to MP3 files burned to them that usually requires a good DAC to bring back the sound quality from the compression process.

The Boss 4-band you have brings back memories from some of my old 90's car audio installs.

 

[petayV8]

Damn, you went old school with the analog BOSS 4-band EQ setup.

Man, I would have just purchased a modern radio with a 10 band or more digital EQ. If you listen to modern audio media from digital format; an radio with a good quality DAC will better bring out the sound in your 3-way setup. However, if you are using the CD player with the original content(no MP3 files); then that old BOSS EQ may be the best option since CD quality is pretty high compared to MP3 files burned to them that usually requires a good DAC to bring back the sound quality from the compression process.

The Boss 4-band you have brings back memories from some of my old 90's car audio installs.

Ha I didn't realize it was a thing from the 90s but makes sense since the hu were junk in that era. However its definitely not unknown, this boss one I have isn't that old and quite a few companies make them.

However! I was thinking the same,it may not even make a difference and I've heard reports it can worsen the quality and add more interference and noise. I've had this laying around the garage and figured ide give it a try vs the equalizer on my Eonon Android unit. (Which doesn't have CD but can play FLAC)

I think ultimately you are right and i should get a better dac or they are called DSP in the car world (digital sound processor)

I got burnt out last night getting all the wiring in, will continue today and update as I go along. Maybe not of much interest to some but figured it was a cool upgrade the HL that you don't see much

 

[carguy75]

Ha I didn't realize it was a thing from the 90s but makes sense since the hu were junk in that era. However its definitely not unknown, this boss one I have isn't that old and quite a few companies make them.

However! I was thinking the same,it may not even make a difference and I've heard reports it can worsen the quality and add more interference and noise. I've had this laying around the garage and figured ide give it a try vs the equalizer on my Eonon Android unit. (Which doesn't have CD but can play FLAC)

I think ultimately you are right and i should get a better dac or they are called DSP in the car world (digital sound processor)

I got burnt out last night getting all the wiring in, will continue today and update as I go along. Maybe not of much interest to some but figured it was a cool upgrade the HL that you don't see much

DSP is the software side of the digital audio conversion process to my understanding as a rule; however audio processing units are commonly called DSP. Overall sound quality is base on the actual DAC(digital-audio-convertor) chip-set inside the head-unit or audio processing unit(DSP).

Sony and Pioneer uses some high end DAC in their head-units; hence the superb sound quality of their head-units. Some of the cheaper Android based units has some low-end DAC; hence why I do not bother with the cheap android based head-units. I think Eonon is a good quality company based on reviews; I am not sure about the actually sound quality of the head-units they make.

As for the EQ from the 90's; I always added an slim 1/2 DIN 7-band EQ to my audio systems(under the headunit in the dash) since most of the older head-units only had bass,mid,treble settings without any subwoofer crossovers. The headunits became better in the 2000's and started to include 7 or more EQ bands and crossovers; so the need for the additional EQ unit faded away as the head-units became even better with DSP processing.

 

[petayV8]

DSP is the software side of the digital audio conversion process to my understanding as a rule; however audio processing units are commonly called DSP. Overall sound quality is base on the actual DAC(digital-audio-convertor) chip-set inside the head-unit or audio processing unit(DSP).

Sony and Pioneer uses some high end DAC in their head-units; hence the superb sound quality of their head-units. Some of the cheaper Android based units has some low-end DAC; hence why I do not bother with the cheap android based head-units. I think Eonon is a good quality company based on reviews; I am not sure about the actually sound quality of the head-units they make.

As for the EQ from the 90's; I always added an slim 1/2 DIN 7-band EQ to my audio systems(under the headunit in the dash) since most of the older head-units only had bass,mid,treble settings without any subwoofer crossovers. The headunits became better in the 2000's and started to include 7 or more EQ bands and crossovers; so the need for the additional EQ unit faded away as the head-units became even better with DSP processing.

Thanks for the info. Yeah I wasn't planning on keeping the Eonon I got it many years ago and it looked better than most without breaking the bank but I've actually been pretty impressed with the quality of the unit inside and out so haven't replaced it yet, when I do I'll go with a Sony or Pioneer. I ultimately prefer a standalone double din with a CD and no screen, I had a JVC in my last car that was very impressive and it wasn't even that expensive I think $120, had infinity reference 6x9s all around with a amp and sounded amazing. I do love my vinyl and am addicted to that wonderful analog sound, so I'm always going for a pure sound with good clarity and mids in my cars but it's tough!

Turn out the equalizer doesn't work, I believe the phono connections are damaged on the board,so for now I have all the wiring in place if I want to go that route but am not using it. This is my EQ on the Eonon,.nothing special unfortunately

 

[petayV8]

Rear door two ways install:

For this I am currently using head unit to power rears with a crossover, so just really a quick upgrade for anyone. I cut a small + cross in the fabric and was careful when cutting the door card from behind to not damage the fabric, although I found the fabic very tough and good quality and it even has a small layer of foam to add softness! Very nice! I was also careful to cut in the exact same spot but there are marks on the back of the door card you can go by if you look closely at the picture. You will need to purchase speaker mounts for the rears because the stock ones are integrated. These are cheap and can be found online or you could possibly hack up the stock ones

 

[petayV8]

Front wiring and install:
First of all here is the wiring diagram and color/pin outs for the highlander 6 speaker setup. Came in very useful.

Finding a spot for the crossover was a little tricky because there is limited room behind the door card but I was hopeful to not have to fit it in the cabin somewhere to save on wiring/time. This spot is perfect. I drilled just one small hole in the metal and used a small screw to keep it there, you could also use 3m sticky tape I guess. I did have to move around some of the stock hardness and cut out the speaker wires from the stock tape to give me some better flexibility

For the mids I screws in the covers from the front and simply added a bolt and mounted the speaker, your going to have to get creative here depending on what you buy. I was very careful again with cutting and was sure have them in the same position left and right.

Scrap fabric used to cover amp and not be visible for passenger!

And the finished product

 

[petayV8]

Impressed with the sound, very very loud and good clarity. A little bright and will actually hurt my ears if I go loud enough but it still needs some fine tuning. Clarity is amazing, and you wouldnt need a sub necessarily, the 6.5 cones can pack a punch. I drove a Mercedes SL at work yesterday and it sounded s**t compared 🤣🤪 lol but what originally inspired me to do this was hearing the stock )3 way system ) in the GX470

I was really set on getting some Infinity Kappa's but for half the price I thought ide give these CT sounds a go, and honesty for the price these CT's are very impressive and are definitely a considerable upgrade, if you spend more you might get slightly better quality but not enough to justify the extra cost imo unless your going super high end with Focal or something, but im not that rich! Overall it just makes driving a lot more enjoyable in the HL than it already was and even just upgrading the fronts which is how I had it for many years was a huge upgrade from the stock (those are now in the rear doors). And yes I am using stock speaker wires, I have replaced it with a better gauge in the past, but I noticed that the Toyota stock wires are actually very good quality and a good gauge and dont feel it was necessary. Good old Toyota!

Any questions let me know

 

[dcjamies]

Well done! As previously discussed, you’ll be able to better tune the brightness, etc. when you replace your heading with the better DSP and expanded EQ. I’m currently running an Alpine iLX-W650 with replacement speakers and a small powered sub. Very pleased with it. Most of my music is Apple Music streaming. Also a good amount of podcasts.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor, friend!

 

[petayV8]

Well done! As previously discussed, you’ll be able to better tune the brightness, etc. when you replace your heading with the better DSP and expanded EQ. I’m currently running an Alpine iLX-W650 with replacement speakers and a small powered sub. Very pleased with it. Most of my music is Apple Music streaming. Also a good amount of podcasts.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor, friend!

Thanks! Yeah that's gonna have to be the next step and I agree. That's what nice about car audio though, you can upgrade it more and more over time

 

[petayV8]

Well done! As previously discussed, you’ll be able to better tune the brightness, etc. when you replace your heading with the better DSP and expanded EQ. I’m currently running an Alpine iLX-W650 with replacement speakers and a small powered sub. Very pleased with it. Most of my music is Apple Music streaming. Also a good amount of podcasts.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor, friend!

So you would recommend that head unit? Alpine iLX-W650. If so maybe I can find a used one for a bit less somewhere

 

[dcjamies]

So you would recommend that head unit? Alpine iLX-W650. If so maybe I can find a used one for a bit less somewhere

I’ve been very happy with it. It is pretty basic in some aspects, such as customizing aesthetics (can’t change main wallpaper, illumination is only white, etc). It does not have a mechanical drive, so it is streaming content (via Bluetooth, Android Auto, or Apple CarPlay), satellite radio, usb drive, or radio. It does has video input for backup cam.
On the other hand, the EQ, crossover, and sub outputs have quite a bit of granular control. It is 18w per channel, but can be expanded with a companion amp that piggybacks onto the unit. It has an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness, rather than tapping into the headlight signal. The touchscreen is capacitive, rather than resistive.
I did install a parking brake bypass to be able to access functions all the time. It plays nice with my steering wheel controls using the right interface.
Overall, it’s a winner for me.
Doh, I just looked at the price. It’s gone up considerably since got it in 2020. I bought it from Crutchfield for $239 (open box?).